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analysis

No doubt, you passed out immediately after the LSAT last night, and did not devote a moment’s thought to it today as you watched the game that comes around very year: The Superb Owl game.

Spoiler alert: God is a Patriots fan.

Now, we’re talking February LSAT. As we’ve explained before, the February LSAT is a weirdo. Super early for admission the following you, super late for admission the same year. And, of course, the questions will never be released.

Merry day after! To those of you who took yesterday’s exam, congratulations! We heard it was a bit tough, especially in the Logic Games section (a recent trend), but otherwise was nothing out of the ordinary.

If you didn’t take yesterday’s exam but are instead studying for February or beyond, hopefully this post and the exam, when released, will be valuable tools for your preparation.

Yesterday, scores from the September 2016 LSAT were released, to much fanfare. Or, depending upon how you did, to a mix of sadness and anger. When you get your scores, we at Blueprint get the exam. So let’s take a brief little look at what the deal is with this sucker.

The February LSAT is in the books. Compared to the other LSATs in the year, the February LSAT has an aura of mystery about it. Since the test is undisclosed, no one outside LSAC ever gets to see it, except on test day. This leads to the rumor that the February LSAT is weird or different.

Law school has a bit of a bad rap lately. A few years ago, a downturn in legal employment made clear that law school really didn’t offer the kind of odds of stable employment that many students expected in return for their six-figure investment.

Since then, law school applications have fallen. Big time. LSAT administrations are down 41% from their peak in 2009-2010. The number of applicants to law school declined 42% from 2005 through last cycle, and stands to be even lower this year.

At the same time, there are signs that the job market is recovering. Hiring looks to be on the way up. Take all of these facts together, and it’s looking like a good time to apply to law school.

The release of the US News and World Report law school rankings always sets the internet abuzz, and this year was no different. With some shake-ups in the top 10, drops of over 25 spots further down the list, and the debut of a few new schools, concerned parties from all over the internet are weighing in with opinions and analysis.

With so much noise, it can be difficult and confusing to figure out what’s actually important, so we’ve collected some of the articles most relevant to pre-law readers.

Methodology: 2016 Best Law School Rankings — U.S. News and World Report
With these particular rankings playing such a huge role in determining where many applicants decide to attend law school, you should at least know what goes into determining where schools place.

Among the top tier of schools, the names remain familiar – for now. The top three schools are the same for the zillionth year in a row, although Stanford (formerly #3) moved up to share the #2 spot with Harvard. Whenever a school in the highest echelons of the rankings moves up or down, it’s treated as a Big Freaking Deal – but realistically, this change won’t make a huge difference, since Stanford hasn’t actually surpassed Harvard. They’ll get some bragging rights, sure, but essentially Stanford’s status is changing from “extremely well-regarded” to “still extremely well-regarded.”

It’s the morning after the LSAT. As the hangover (whether from the LSAT or whatever you did after the LSAT) wears off, it’s time to reflect and look back on yesterday’s test.

By the reports I’m hearing, yesterday’s LSAT sounds pretty standard. There was some hard stuff, but nothing that made everyone scream in unison. And some LSATs have things that make everyone scream in unison. See this past June, for example.

It’s natural to wonder whether you should cancel your score. It’s normal to walk out of the LSAT test center feeling not so great. That’s because it’s a hard test, and it’s natural to remember the stuff that made you (figuratively) soil your pants.

I hope everyone enjoyed June-LSAT release day! The LSAC was nice this year – they released scores well enough in advance of July 4th so that you could go out and celebrate/lament, nurse your hangover, and be back in drinking shape by the time our nation’s birthday rolls around. Cheers to you, LSAC!

Also, while not always getting the topics in the right section, I feel my predictions were eerily accurate.